Early Life and Lineage Kanō Tan’yū, born in Kyoto in 1602, emerged from a lineage steeped in the traditions of the Kanō school—the most influential force in Japanese painting for centuries. His father, Kano Takanobu, was a prominent artist within this established system, and Tan’yū inherited not only his artistic skill but also a profound understanding of the aesthetic principles that had defined generations of painters. The Kanō scho…